IGI vs GIA
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IGI Diamond Certification
The IGI started out as the blue color workhorse of the diamond business. They were, and still are, the most popular gem lab for the major jewelry chains in the US and Canada (Kay, Zales, etc.) They are like a factory. They work fast, and they work cheap.
Lately, though, they have been trying to position themselves as a legitimate contender against the other labs and not just a certificate factory for the major chains. While they haven’t succeeded so much in America, they have actually gained quite impressive market share in Europe and the Middle East. I used to travel to sell diamonds in Dubai, and the two major certificates sold in that market are HRD and IGI.
The bottom line with IGI in comparison to GIA is that they are consistently looser in color, and partially looser in clarity. What I mean by this is that specifically in the “SI3″ range, they generally upgrade to an SI2. Diamonds used for “SI2″ programs at the major chains would almost never pass a GIA “SI2.” I know this particularly well, as throughout my professional career, I must have personally selected thousands of diamonds to be sold as IGI SI2s at the major jewelry store chains in the US and UK. These programs (usually the middle-ground price point offering great value as it’s the cheapest of the eye-clean grades) all have a minimum of SI2 clarity. For these programs, we would always strive to find diamonds that were in that “SI3″ sweet spot — diamonds that would not receive an “SI2″ from GIA, but were too nice to sell as an “I1.”
If you have any questions, please post them in the comments below. I will usually respond within 24 hours.
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Good article and it makes sense.
Does IGI also upgrade diamonds that they list as VVS2, would these be considered SI1 on the GIA certificate? Also how would their color J be certified on GIA?
How does IGI compare to EGL certification.
Thanks for your input.
If a diamond were J VVS2, I would assume that its a K VS1. They are generally off by a color.
You really should only be considering GIA certified diamonds (unless its round, then AGS is good as well).
Hi MIke
Im in Dubai ,Would like to purchase 2 diamonds for stud earring for my wife , each piece around 0.85c, F color, SI2, with excellent cut , symetric, flurecent ,etc– all v. good specs. My friend purchasing from Antwenrp with IGI certificate and with Maximum discount he get Piece price RAPPOrt minus 40% discount around $2500, is it good deal to go and he told me IGI and GIA not big difference except GIA takes 2 months while IGI 3-5days for certificate?
You are posting on our IGI page, so you can see that the two certificates are not the same. Also, IGI may not have a full report, so you have no idea how poor the cut is.